Music biopics seem to be everywhere at the moment. Already this year we’ve seen Born to Be Blue (Chet Baker), I Saw the Light (Hank Williams), Miles Ahead (Miles Davis), Elvis & Nixon and the controversial Nina (as in Simone). And as of today we’re making room for yet another, the long-gestating Tupac Shakur movie All Eyez on Me.

Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays the late rapper, who rose to become one of the most iconic musicians of his generation before getting gunned down at age 25. Benny Boom directed. The first All Eyez on Me trailer has just dropped, on what would have been Shakur’s 45th birthday. Watch it below.

Morgan Creek has spent the past several years developing a Tupac Shakur biopic, without a lot to show for it. But nothing sparks creative progress like a looming deadline, and so with the clock running out on the music rights, the project is finally making some big strides.

Earlier this monthAll Eyez on Me found a new director in Benny Boom, and now it’s found a new lead as well, in relative newcomer Demetrius Shipp Jr. In addition, Jamal Woolard has been set to play the Notorious B.I.G. Get more details on the Tupac Shakur biopic casting, and see the first photos of Shipp on set, after the jump. Read More »

Following a small cameo in Straight Outta Compton this summer, Tupac Shakur may finally get his own big-screen biopic. The long-gestating project has just found a new director in Benny Boom, replacing Carl Franklin (who in turn replaced John Singleton). More details on the Tupac biopic director update after the jump. Read More »

UPDATE:TheWrap confirms John Singleton has left the Tupac Shakur biopic over “major creative differences.” Carl Franklin will replace Singleton in the director’s chair. Original story follows.

The long-gestating Tupac Shakur biopic has stalled yet again. Director John Singleton says it’s “on hold for right now,” because he just wants to make sure to “get it right.” Meanwhile, a rumor has cropped up that Singleton is being replaced by Carl Franklin. Hit the jump for the latest updates on the Tupac Shakur movie.

A Tupac Shakur biopic has been in the works for a long, long time — so long, in fact, that it was starting to look like the film would never actually happen. But now it’s finally coming together for real, with a distributor and everything.

Open Road Films has just picked up the U.S. rights to Tupac. John Singleton is set to direct. What’s still missing is a star who can capture the late rapper’s indelible spirit. More details on the film after the jump.

John Singleton has long wanted to make a biopic about the late Tupac Shakur, whom Singleton cast in Poetic Justice. In late 2011 he was set to direct the film, but he dropped out a month later, and in the years since the Tupac film has essentially stalled, with attempts to come up with a new director, script, and financing taking time to bear fruit. But last year Morgan Creek Films got Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films to commit financing, and so the film is moving forward again.

Now Singleton is once again on the film, and is planning to immediately rewrite the script with an eye on shooting this summer. Read More »

Always two, there were: the Star Wars film canon and the Expanded Universe canon. It seems however, under the new Disney regime, everything moving forward will fall under the same umbrella. Read about that development, and everything below, in this edition of Star Wars Bits.

Two Star Wars Rebels character names have been revealed via Lego sets.

George Lucas might have considered Tupac Shakur for Mace Windu in Star Wars Episode I.

Back in February 2011, we reported that a Tupac Shakur biopic was set to shoot in just a few months. That didn’t pan out, of course. By the end of that year, original director Antoine Fuqua had departed, and possible replacement John Singleton had already come and gone.

But then earlier this year, Tupac showed signs of life when new rewrite was ordered. Now it’s taking another big step forward as Emmett/Furla/Oasis signs up to co-finance and co-produce. As of now, the goal is to get cameras rolling in early 2014. Hit the jump for the latest updates.

Progress on Morgan Creek’s Tupac Shakur biopic has been pretty quiet since 2011, when first Antoine Fuqua and then John Singleton left the project in a matter of months. But it hasn’t died down completely, and now it’s taking an important step forward.

Michael Starrbury, writer of the buzzy Sundance drama The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, has been hired to do a new rewrite of the screenplay. (Here’s Germain’s review of Mister and Pete.) The original draft was penned by Steve Bagatourian, Stephen Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson. More details after the jump.

That long-gestating Tupac Shakur biopic is in need of a director once again, as John Singleton has dropped out of talks to helm. Antoine Fuqua was originally lined up to direct, but left the project due to difficulties with casting the lead role — even a nationwide talent search failed to yield any candidates who passed muster — and Singleton entered negotiations last month.

Now, with the Shakur pic off his plate, Singleton’s next project will be an untitled love story that reunites him with Baby Boy stars Tyrese Gibson and Taraji P. Henson. More after the jump.